Mary Jane Robinson was born on 21 October
1849, at Stalybridge, Lancastershire, England.
She was the eldest child of John Robinson and Elizabeth White who had
married in Ashton, Lancashire in 1846. Elizabeth, John and their families had
recently moved to Lancashire from Leitrim, Ireland: a fairly common occurrence
at this time. John worked at one of the
many Cotton Factories and the Robinson family lived at a number of different
residences in the Stalybridge / Ashton-under-Lynne area: 1 Peason House; Bond
Street; and Spring Bank. Mary Jane had a number of younger siblings.
On Monday 30 December 1872, when Mary Jane
was 23, she married her (slightly younger) cousin, Robert White at St James,
Millbrook, Chestershire. Mary and Robert would have known each other well, as
they were double cousins: Mary’s father was a brother of Robert’s mother, and
Mary’s mother was a sister of Robert’s father (four shared grandparents, which
is why some people would argue that marriage between double cousins is
effectively the same as marrying a sibling).
In modern western society, marrying your cousin is not well accepted and
marrying a double cousin would be considered ‘creepy’. Up until the mid-19th Century,
first cousins commonly married. A good
example was Charles Darwin, who married his first cousin Emma Wedgwood. Such marriages fell out of fashion but were
never legislated against in the UK, possibly because a number of the
aristocracy and royalty engaged in the practice. Interestingly, many states in the USA have
never allowed marriage between first cousins.
Research into genetic abnormalities indicates that a child born of
cousins is up to two times more likely to have genetic disorders, but the risk
is still very low (the child has about the same risk of genetic abnormality as
that of a child born to a woman over 40 years). It is not known whether Mary
and Robert’s family were happy or otherwise with the union.
Mary’s first child was born in 1875, a
daughter, Elizabeth Ellen. In 1878 Robert left England bound for Brisbane, Australia. Presumably they had discussed going to
Australia as a family! Mary was pregnant
at the time, so perhaps she wanted to delay her move until the birth of her
second child. Mary’s son, John William,
was born on 17 June 1878 at Heyrod: one month after Robert had arrived in Brisbane. Early in 1879 Mary left England with her two
children and cousin (and sister-in-law) Ann Jane White. They arrived in Moreton
Bay, Queensland on Friday 20 June 1879. By this stage Robert had obtained a job
with the NSW Railway, so Mary Jane, Elizabeth, John and Ann Jane travelled onto
Sydney. Ann Jane had met a young man
called William (Elwood) White – no relation – on the trip to Australia and he
possibly accompanied them to Sydney. Ann
Jane and William married in October 1879 and the two couples kept in touch with
each other. Mary Jane and Robert settled
in Burwood, near Strathfield.
Mary Jane had her third child, Robert
Charles, in October 1880. Sadly, baby Robert contracted Pneumonia and died in
January 1881.
On 30 July 1881 Mary Jane took her two children into the city with Ann.
It was the day before Elizabeth's 6th birthday. The four were
walking along George Street and needed to cross the street. Mary was
holding John, and Ann was with Elizabeth. Elizabeth saw her mother
crossing the street ahead of her and she ran to her. George Street has
always been busy, and this day was no exception. A horse drawn omnibus was coming down the
street and was unable to stop in time. Elizabeth was trampled by one of the
horses and was killed instantly. It must
have been a horrible shock for Mary Jane. I know were expectations that not all
children would survive: and, just like today, the roads can be dangerous.
Ann Jane’s first child was born later in
1881. Mary Jane fell pregnant again quickly and
in 1882 Jane Clegg White was born. Two
years later Robert Henry was born, but he died in 1885. Mary Jane’s last child, James Julian, was
born in 1887 when John William was 9 and Jane Clegg was 5. Mary Jane remained
in Sydney, and she and Robert lived separate lives. Robert left the railway and travelled around
NSW working as a Phreuologist, with a female assistant.
 |
| The only known photo of Mary Jane... |
In 1903 Jane Clegg
married John James Kegg (becoming Jane Clegg Kegg), and John William returned
to Stalybridge and married Harriet Dyson in 1906. Mary Jane became a grandmother in 1906 with
the birth of Jane’s daughter, Eileen Gwendoline, and John’s daughter
Irene. Jane had a son, Cyril James, and
John returned to Australia and had a further 4 children. James Julian married Isabel Sargent in 1914
and had a son.
Notwithstanding
their separation, when Robert White died on 29 April 1917 in Parkes, New South
Wales, Mary Jane insert a funeral notice in the paper inviting “relatives and
friends to attend the Funeral of her dearly beloved husband”. It is possible
that their separation was amicable!
Mary Jane died at 14 Darcy Avenue, Lidcombe
on 12 July 1934, she was 84.
Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great grandmother
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